For the past several years now, the New York Auto Show has primarily been dominated by the Hyundai group. That held true for 2026 with a continuing commitment to elevated stand designs across Genesis, Hyundai and Kia and debuts two of the three brands.

Looking at the show as a whole, it is still struggling to decide whether it want to be product/dealer focused or lean into a car culture experience. A measure of whether the latter will draw crowds will be the first ever edition of Retromobile in NYC at Javits later this year. The annual Paris-based vintage and collector transportation event will be unlike anything held in the city before.

So what stood out this year? Most of the hype was focused on the Hyundai Boulder Concept. I think I muttered ok instead of wow when the smoke cleared following the reveal. The exterior design has familiar rough and tough elements and taken together it looks a bit the result of a prompt combining the 2004 Bronco Concept and the Mahindra Thar.e. The real newsworthy bit of this concept is hidden, old school body on frame construction which Hyundai says will be the basis of a range on new vehicles. I’d have focused on that more with a concept like a wild futuristic rock crawler or lifted adventure vehicle and gotten credit for the frame.

Way in the back corner of Javits was the pair of Corvette CX concepts. And both of these are awesome. I’m not a fan of the exterior of the C8, the vents and intakes are all different shapes and nothing looks finish or resolved. I overheard a Chevrolet representative speaking with another journalist at the show explaining the CX is the path forward and will influence the C9 debuting in a few years.

Polestar occupied an atrium spot with two cars, one being the special Polestar 4 created for the 2025 F.A.T. Ice Race Arctic Circle Edition. These would have been the vehicle of choice in NYC during the ’25-’26 multi-blizzard winter. I’ll give Polestar best booth design for a pure white gallery-like presentation. Great for photos and isolated from the rest of the show’s visual noise.

Photos and Text: Dave Pinter